Sexual impotence among men has long been the subject of investigation and a number of causes have been established. These include the obvious ones of mental and physical strain, emotional stress, smoking and the most common of all, age, with approximately fifty percent of all men older than forty suffering at least some degree of impotence. Impotence may also be induced by illness or even as a side effect of certain prescribed medicines.
Prior art inventions designed to stimulate and maintain a penile erection are varied and numerous. U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,902 and WO 9321872 describe a prosthesis for implantation into a penis.
The disadvantages of such internal, surgically implanted supports in everyday life are obvious and consequently efforts have been re-focussed on the provision of external aids.
German Patent DE 4129173 and DE 4227150 as well as WO 9004368 essentially involve a restriction of the blood flow from an erect penis and in so doing purport to extend the duration of an erection.
While these inventions do offer improvements over previous tourniquet models, it is clear that the numbness and soreness associated therewith has not entirely been obviated.
External penile supports in the form of a sleeve have a number of disadvantages. Jaegle's invention (DE 4225160), like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,192 comprises a support tube which must be threaded over the penis, with difficulty. Neither invention provides for increased potency on the male's part and they should rather be viewed as sex aids than aids to impotence or premature ejaculation.
GB 2 259 017 (Ford) describes a support comprising a shaped cover which fits over the penis and is held in position by a condom. This has the advantage of allowing some stimulation to the underside of the penis as well as preventing sexually transmitted diseases. It does not however assist with impotence or premature ejaculation.
EP 536598 also involves an elastic tubular support, but which is open-ended and is narrowed from base to tip to aid impotency. Problems are envisaged with insertion of the penis.
Immonen in GB 2208151 describes a split tubular member shaped anatomically to fit into the neck of the glans of the penis. This structure however must be held in place by bindings or adhesive strips which are likely to come off or to cause irritation to the vagina. This may be rectified by the use of a condom, although no provision is made for its retention in the desired location. In addition the surface area of the penis exposed to stimulation by the vagina is limited.
It is clear that many devices have been proposed to assist or simulate an erection but none of these has been successful enough to be universally enjoyed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which is easy to use, effective and which is inexpensive to produce. A further object is to permit safe use without the risk of contracting of sexually transmitted diseases as well as to control premature ejaculation. A yet further object is to hold a condom securely in place.